Don’t Let Finances Break You

Money. The one thing invented by Man that has brought so much happiness and sadness at the same time. The one thing we all work so hard for, yet so many of us never have enough of. Since the invention of money, there has always been something to pay – taxes, bills, loans, transport, rates, maintenance, the list goes on. Most people have earned enough money to simply pay these items and nothing further. No safety net for emergencies, no comfort for some luxuries, no ability to afford some travel.

Centuries upon centuries of obsession over accumulating wealth has increased the importance of money, and in turn the dependence on money. The simple fact being; if you don’t have money you’re dead in the water. No house, no food, no means to live by. This is an immense amount of pressure on all of us. It forces us to think we have to work for our well being. If we don’t, we die.

Having this pressure in the back of our mind crushes us into a deep pit of worry about all aspects of finance. ”Have I made enough this month?”, ”Crap, the plumbing just burst and needs replacing”, ”That is an insane amount to be loaning for a house”. These are just some of the questions that float around our head. Each time the question is asked, the deeper the pit becomes, as we worry some more about how we will be paying all these finances off.

We suffer high anxiety when having to sign a house or loan agreement. We shed a tear every time there is maintenance to be performed on the house. How about a sense of failure when we haven’t been able to save as much money as we would have liked during a given period?

We work harder and longer hours in order to possibly incrementally increase our income. However, all these finances are also increasing each year due to inflation. This gets us more worried. We work longer. More money. More, more, more. But it is just never enough to pay the bills, and enjoy life a little. Until we realise…

It is only money.

Money is only ‘a thing’. Something that gets way too much of our time, focus, and energy. Yes, we have to work to gain money. Yes, we need money to survive in this rat race world. Yes, we need money to pay off our debts. But that’s it.

Payments out of necessity should not be the main driver of our anxiety and pressure when it comes to money matters. All that worrisome fretting gets us nowhere quickly. It strangles our ability to focus our energy to bigger and better things. Things that will generate profit. Things that will make money matters easier on the mind, and easier on the soul.

Paying out of necessity is only a means to an end. And that’s all the thought it deserves. Buy a house, pay those bills, perform the maintenance required. Disclaimer: It’s kinda obvious that you would need to budget accordingly, and not overspend. If you can’t afford these bills, then plan, budget, and achieve that goal. But don’t let it worry you and eat your soul.

If you’ve read any of my previous work, you may remember how I view going through life. Have your sights on the end goal. By doing that, your current obstacles will seem smaller, and in turn less worrisome. Applying this same logic to our money woes makes the bills a lot less suffocating. And a lot less impeding in our daily lives.

I cannot stress enough the importance of actively reducing the amount of worry when it comes to making payments. If we always see the entire amount, there will always be anxiety, fear, and a mountain of pressure. It might not relate, but the adage (and my personal favourite) of “How does one eat an elephant? In small chunks” is apt in almost all cases of tackling something large.

By looking at your payments in smaller increments they become less of a mountain, and more of a molehill. Budget, schedule, plan, use whatever method works for you. The key is to get to a stage that you are not sick with worry. A place where you know you need to pay, but it’s all good. You are sorted out and it will all work out.